Feeding device for shingle cutters



May 25, 1937. J. w. PEARL FEEDING DEVICE-FOR SHINGLE CUTTERS Filed June 2, 1954 INVENTbR 4! 'Pearl' 1 ToRNEY 6 3 a a M L ZK' LII H I L 26 H Patented May 25, 1937 FEEDING DEVICE FOR SHINGLE CUTTERS John Wesley Pearl, Yeadon, Pa, assignor to The Barrett Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of NewJersey Application June 2, 1934, Serial No. 728,637

6 Claims.

This invention relates to feeding mechanism for advan'cing a flexible sheet of roofing material to cutting mechanism, preferably of the revolving cylinder type, to produce individual shingle elements or strip shingle elements therefrom,

i The machine of the present invention is designed to feed the flexible roofing material withcut slippage tot-he cutters, thereby accurately controlling the length of material fed to the cutters, and the length cut. Hence, this machine results in the production of flexible shingle elements and strip shingles of uniform size and shape.

An important object of this invention is to provide a feeding mechanism for a shingle cutter, preferably a revolving cylinder cutting machine of the universal type, the feeding mechanism being designed to accurately feed controlled lengths of flexible roofing material to the cutting cylinders and hence produce shingle elements of uniform length. Other'objects and advantages of this invention will appear from the following de tailed description.

In the preferred embodiment illustrated on the drawing, "the invention is shown incorporatedin a shingle cutter of the revolving cylinder type designed to cut the strip of flexible roofing material into a plurality of strips of uniform length and the present description will be confined to the present illustrated embodiment of the invention. It will be understood, however, that the novel features and improvements are susceptible to other applications; for example, to cutting flexiblesheet material other than roofing into predetermined lengths. Hence, the scope of this invention is not confined to the embodiment herein described. 7

In the accompanying drawing, illustrating one embodiment of this invention, in which like reference characters refer to like parts Fig.1 is a vertical section, partly in elevation, through the feeding mechanism for the flexible roofing material, the support for the feeding mechanism and the mechanism for separating the cut strips, which is of a conventional type, being fragmentarily shown, and the cutting cylinders being shown somewhat diagrammatically;

and r Fig. 2 is a plan View of the feeding mechanism shown in Fig. 1.

In the drawing, reference numeral ll indicates a flexible sheet of roofing material which may be the usual asphalt or other bituminous material saturated felt base roofing coated on both sides with asphalt or other bituminous material and surfaced on one side with mineral grit and having mica :dust, talc or other non-cementitious material applied to the other side. The roofing material I-l passes over a guide roll l2 and thence into '5 the feeding mechanism of this invention. This feeding mechanism is mounted on a suitable support 13 having standards M, l extending upwardly from the opposite sides of base plate 16. The extremities of each of the standards l4, I5 are formed with slideways H in which are dis posed bearing blocks. One pair of bearing blocks t8 is provided in the slideways I! at the left (viewing Fig. Def the base plate 16. "This pair of bearing blocks has rotatably mounted therein 15 a shaft i9. A second pair of bearing blocks isdisposed directly above the blocks 18. Blocks 20 have rotatably mounted therein a shaft 2|. 0n the right hand end of the base plate l fi'a pair of bearing blocks 22 having rotatably mounted 0 therein a shaft 23 is disposed in the slideway l1. Directly above the bearing blocks 22 a second pair of bearing blocks 2l having rotatably mounted therein a shaft 25 is provided.

Each of the shafts l9, El, '23, and 25 has keyed "2'5 thereon a series of pulleys 2B. In the embodiment of the invention shown on Fig. 2 of the drawing, seven pulleys are depicted disposed in equi-spaced relation on each shaft. Pulleys on the lower shafts l9 and 23 are positioned directly 3'0 beneath the pulleys on the upper shafts 2i and 25, respectively. One set of tract-ion belts, identi- 'fied by the reference numeral 27 passes over the opposite pairs of pulleys on shafts l9 and 23 and a second set of traction belts 28 passes over the opposite pairs of pulleys on shafts 2i and 25. Thus, there is provided two sets of traction belts, each set constituted of seven belts disposed in equi-spaced relationship with the belts of the upper set in contact with those of the lower set and positioned directly thereabove, as clearly appears from Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawing. The belts are preferably. faced with soft rubber. In practice it has been found that such soft rubber facedbelts are wear-resistant and give good traction.

The slideways ll permit movement of the bearing blocks 20 and 24, carrying the shafts 2| and 25 respectively, with the pulleys keyed thereon and belts travelling over the pulleys into a position away from the lower set of belts 21 so that the sheet I I may be readily threaded through the feeding mechanism. After the sheet is threaded through the feeding mechanism, the upper set of belts 28 is lowered into engagement with the lower set of bolts, the bearing blocks 20,

24 being disposed in desired position with respect to the bearing blocks I8, 22, carrying the shafts I 9, 23 on which the pulleys of the lower set of belts are keyed.

The standards I4 and [5 are provided with slideways 3|, 32, and 33 for the reception of bearing blocks 34 in which the shafts of the idler rolls 35, '36 and 31 are rotatably mounted. Idler rolls 35 and 31, each extending completely across the upper set of belts 28, are disposed in spaced relation resting on the lower run of belts 28 and exert a downward pressure'or tension on these belts. The other idler roll 36 is fixed in its bearing blocks to exert a pressure in a direction opposite to the pressure exerted by the rolls 35 and 31. Idler roll 36, like rolls 35 and 37, extends completely across the set of belts with which it is associated. Roll 35 engages the upper run of belts 21, exerting, as hereinabove indicated, an upward force. Thus, the three idler rolls are arranged so that the belts 2! and 28 are caused to travel upwardly after leaving the first idler roll 35, then downwardly after leaving idler roll 36. Hence, a positive engagement between the roofing or other flexible sheet material and the belts results and slippage between the belts and the sheet material is prevented.

The feeding mechanism may be suitably driven by providing, for example, gears 23', 25 on shafts 23, 25 arranged to mesh, one of the gears being in driving engagement by suitable means such as pulley-belt drive 40 with the gear drive 40 for the cutting rolls so that the feeding and cutting mechanisms are driven in the desired timed relation.

The feeding mechanism hereinabove described feeds the sheet between the rotating cutting cylinder 39 and cooperating platen cylinder 39' which may be of any well-known type. From the cylinders 39 and 39', the cut sheet passes to the pull rolls 4| and thence to the pairs of belts 42, 43, which deliver the out shingles to stacking mechanism, For a more detailed description of one form of delivery belts and pull rolls, reference may be had to United States Patent No. 1,682,921, of September 4, 1928.

It is to be understood that this invention is not restricted to the present disclosure otherwise than defined by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for cutting flexible roofing material into uniform lengths, comprising, in combination, cutting instrumentalities, and means for feeding said roofing material thereto, said means comprising a lower set of belts, an upper set of belts with the belts of one set disposed above those of the other set, a pair of spaced idler rolls exerting tension on the lower run of the upper set of belts, and an idler roll disposed between said pair of spaced idler rolls and exerting tension on the upper run of the lower set of belts.

2. Apparatus for cutting flexible roofing material into uniform lengths, comprising, in combination, cutting instrumentalities and means for feeding said roofing material thereto, said means comprising a lower set of rubber faced belts, an upper set of rubber faced belts with the rubber faced belts of one set disposed in contact with those of the other set, a pair of spaced idler rolls exerting tension on the lower run of the upper set of rubber faced belts, and an idler roll disposed between said pair of spaced idler rolls and exerting tension on the upper run of the lower set of rubber faced belts.

, 3. A feeding device for feeding flexible roofing material to a cutter, comprising, a first set of narrow endless belts disposed in closely spaced relation, a second set of narrow endless belts disposed with the lower run thereof directly above and in contact with the upper run of the first-mentioned set of belts, a pair of spaced idler rolls resting on and exerting downward tension on the lower run of the second-mentioned set of belts, and a third idler roll extending between the first-mentionedpair of idler rolls and exerting upward tension on the upper run of the first-mentioned set of belts.

4. A feeding device for feeding flexible roofing material to a cutter, comprising, in combination, a lower set of narrow endless rubber faced belts disposed in closely spaced relation, an upper set of narrow endless rubber faced belts disposed with the lower run of each belt in contact with the upper run of the lower set of belts, a pair of spaced idler rolls resting and exerting a downward tension on the lower run of the upper set of belts, and a third idler roll extending across the lower set of belts and exerting upward tension thereon, said third idler roll being disposed between the first-mentioned pair of idler rolls.

5. Apparatus for cutting flexible sheet material into uniform lengths comprising in combination, cutting instrumentalities and means located in advance of said instrumentalities for feeding the flexible sheet material therethrough comprising two sets of belts with the belts of one set arranged directly above the belts of the other set, said belts being designed to engage a sheet therebetween, and means for urging said belts toward each other to grip said sheet, said urging means comprising a yieldingly mounted idler roll pressing against one of said belts.

6. Apparatus for cutting flexible roofing sheet material into uniform lengths comprising in combination a rotary cutter, two sets of belts located wholly in advance of said cutter, the belts being designed to engage a roofing sheet between the lower runs of the upper set and the upper runs of the lower set, means for urging said belts toward each other to grip said roofing sheet therebetween, said urging means comprising a yieldingly mounted idler roll pressing against one of said belts, and means for driving said rotary cutter and said belts in synchronism.

JOHN WESLEY PEARL. 

